ESOCS Devotional 3 May 2026 – Unconditional Blessings For Faithful Believers
MEMORY VERSE: “If you obey the Lord your God and faithfully keep all His commands that I am giving you today, He will make you greater than any other nation on earth.” Deuteronomy 28:1 GNB
TEXT: DEUTERONOMY 28:1-14
“Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God:
3 “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.
4 “Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.
5 “Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
6 “Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.
7 “The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.
8 “The Lord will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
9 “The Lord will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways. 10 Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you. 11 And the Lord will grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. 12 The Lord will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. 13 And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them. 14 So you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right or the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
READ OTHER ESOCS DEVOTIONAL HERE
In the Old Testament, God’s blessings to man were conditional to strict obedience to His commandments. But, following Christ’s ultimate sacrifice on the cross, those stringent terms were relaxed and mankind no longer lie under curse of the law, (Romans 8:21-22). However, in John 1:12 and 3:16, we see a simpler, milder condition to attaining God’s material and spiritual blessings – even unto eternal life. Since we have all sinned and come short of His glory, (Romans 3:23), we all lie under the curse of God. Christ, by His substitutionary death, has won release from the curse of the law, which no one could keep perfectly. Instead of curse, believers now experience rich blessings in Christ Jesus. These blessings include freedom, all fullness, the privilege of fruitfulness, etc. But those who stubbornly refuse to believe the Good News, continue to lie under the curse of the Law.
In Deuteronomy 28:15, we understand that curse is the opposite of blessing. It follows therefore that one who is cursed by God can expect blessings to be withdrawn from him. This will be accompanied by a diminishing of the enjoyment of what God yearns to provide for His children. In our text today, God threatens His curses in the context of sin and disobedience to His commandments. But in the New covenant, all that mankind needs to enjoy the fullness of God’s blessing is to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, and to walk along with Him in discipleship (Luke 9:23).
Let’s walk with the Lord, and in the light of His Word. Then God’s everlasting blessings will be ours (Isaiah 43:19).
Reflections
- Christ’s sacrifice did not cancel God’s conditions for blessings. Do you agree?
Prayer
- Lord, grant me the grace to trust and obey.
Further Reading: 2 Samuel 19:31-31; Matthew 25:14-30; Mark 14:12-30
ESOCS Devotional 3 May 2026
